Software tools for creating a digital twin can significantly improve the engineering workflow.

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Automated processes and digitalization in the smart factory require compatible and effective industrial handling systems. Thermoformed trays are an important part of this system. They contain products, protect them and ensure an orderly flow of goods.

With the help of shuttle vehicles, products can be quickly stored, transferred or retrieved in warehouses so that order picking and dispatch run smoothly.

In addition to the desire for simpler products, Still is registering a growing demand among its customers for automation solutions that can be implemented quickly and are scalable.

The factory of the future is highly automated and digitalized. Cooperation between humans and robots plays a key role in the automation of production. Safety in particular is an issue that poses technical and ethical challenges. The Fraunhofer IFF is contributing to safe human-robot collaboration with its research.

The number of robots in industry has increased significantly in recent years. Andreas Mühlbauer spoke to Jörg Rommelfanger, Head of ABB's Robotics Division in Germany, about the current direction of development, how companies can manage the entry into robotics and where the path will lead in the future.

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The digitalization of various sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, is accompanied by rising energy volumes and costs.

When outsourced manufacturing processes such as milling are brought back in-house, up-to-date skills and fresh expertise are often required.

Vacuum clamping minimizes distortion and enables five sides to be machined in one clamping operation. The use of cooling lubricants poses a challenge: If they get into the vacuum generator, they can cause serious damage.

Winter 2022: Germany worried about energy shortages. The drugstore retailer dm did not paint any horror scenarios, but did see the possibility of controlled, temporary, regional power cuts (brownouts). They wanted to be prepared for this.

Work in the workshop is supported by mobile, organized and safe tool storage. Gedore red presents the new GEDWorker, a flexible and practical workshop trolley with a pull-out drawer on both sides.

Humans and robots work closely together in a research laboratory at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the Deutsches Museum.

As in the IT world, cybersecurity in the OT world is also based on continuous monitoring and verification. However, with the OT cybersecurity concept "OT Zero Trust", the focus is on the devices, not the people. Dr. Terence Liu, CEO of TXOne Networks, explains the method in more detail.

The Rodriguez range includes ball bushings including matching housings, shaft brackets, crossbars and supports.

In sensitive sectors such as medical technology, the optical industry or electronics, cleanroom-compatible components are required for all processes. This also includes drives. With the servo presses from the Electricdrive Core series, Tox Pressotechnik now has a solution: they comply with air cleanliness class 5 in accordance with ISO 14644-1.

The P-touch E300VP mobile labeling device from Brother helps trade and industry to keep track of things. Weighing just 740 g, the P-touch E300VP with its long-life Li-ion batteries has been specially developed for use on the move.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed an extremely heat-resistant ceramic-based ink. This makes it possible for the first time to mark metal components that are processed in the automotive industry at temperatures of over 1,000 ºC with a code. The code, which is read by a scanner, leads to a database in which all the manufacturing parameters of the respective component are stored.

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As part of the restructuring of its plant in Curitiba, Brazil, household appliance manufacturer Electrolux has switched to a fully automated warehouse. The literal verticalization of stocks increased productivity, reduced costs and standardized the electrical company's processes.

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Siemens has opened a new test lab for industrial connectivity technologies at its Erlangen site. Embedded in the Siemens Technology Center on the Erlangen campus, the Industrial Connectivity Lab offers 300 square meters of space for testing connectivity solutions: Industrial WLAN, 5G, real-time localization systems (RTLS) and radio frequency identification (RFID).

Schwäbische Werkzeugmaschinen has officially broken ground for the construction of a new production hall at the company headquarters in Schramberg-Waldmössingen. A photovoltaic system on the roof of the hall will provide green energy. SW is also expanding the existing technology center and creating space for training and further education.